Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/code-patching: Fix...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
powerpc/code-patching: Fix KASAN hit by not flagging text patching area as VM_ALLOC
Erhard reported the following KASAN hit while booting his PowerMac G4
with a KASAN-enabled kernel 6.13-rc6:
BUG: KASAN: vmalloc-out-of-bounds in copy_to_kernel_nofault+0xd8/0x1c8
Write of size 8 at addr f1000000 by task chronyd/1293
CPU: 0 UID: 123 PID: 1293 Comm: chronyd Tainted: G W 6.13.0-rc6-PMacG4 #2
Tainted: [W]=WARN
Hardware name: PowerMac3,6 7455 0x80010303 PowerMac
Call Trace:
[c2437590] [c1631a84] dump_stack_lvl+0x70/0x8c (unreliable)
[c24375b0] [c0504998] print_report+0xdc/0x504
[c2437610] [c050475c] kasan_report+0xf8/0x108
[c2437690] [c0505a3c] kasan_check_range+0x24/0x18c
[c24376a0] [c03fb5e4] copy_to_kernel_nofault+0xd8/0x1c8
[c24376c0] [c004c014] patch_instructions+0x15c/0x16c
[c2437710] [c00731a8] bpf_arch_text_copy+0x60/0x7c
[c2437730] [c0281168] bpf_jit_binary_pack_finalize+0x50/0xac
[c2437750] [c0073cf4] bpf_int_jit_compile+0xb30/0xdec
[c2437880] [c0280394] bpf_prog_select_runtime+0x15c/0x478
[c24378d0] [c1263428] bpf_prepare_filter+0xbf8/0xc14
[c2437990] [c12677ec] bpf_prog_create_from_user+0x258/0x2b4
[c24379d0] [c027111c] do_seccomp+0x3dc/0x1890
[c2437ac0] [c001d8e0] system_call_exception+0x2dc/0x420
[c2437f30] [c00281ac] ret_from_syscall+0x0/0x2c
--- interrupt: c00 at 0x5a1274
NIP: 005a1274 LR: 006a3b3c CTR: 005296c8
REGS: c2437f40 TRAP: 0c00 Tainted: G W (6.13.0-rc6-PMacG4)
MSR: 0200f932 <VEC,EE,PR,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI> CR: 24004422 XER: 00000000
GPR00: 00000166 af8f3fa0 a7ee3540 00000001 00000000 013b6500 005a5858 0200f932
GPR08: 00000000 00001fe9 013d5fc8 005296c8 2822244c 00b2fcd8 00000000 af8f4b57
GPR16: 00000000 00000001 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000 00000002
GPR24: 00afdbb0 00000000 00000000 00000000 006e0004 013ce060 006e7c1c 00000001
NIP [005a1274] 0x5a1274
LR [006a3b3c] 0x6a3b3c
--- interrupt: c00
The buggy address belongs to the virtual mapping at
[f1000000, f1002000) created by:
text_area_cpu_up+0x20/0x190
The buggy address belongs to the physical page:
page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:00000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x76e30
flags: 0x80000000(zone=2)
raw: 80000000 00000000 00000122 00000000 00000000 00000000 ffffffff 00000001
raw: 00000000
page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected
Memory state around the buggy address:
f0ffff00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
f0ffff80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
f1000000: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8
^
f1000080: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8
f1000100: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8
==================================================================
f8 corresponds to KASAN_VMALLOC_INVALID which means the area is not
initialised hence not supposed to be used yet.
Powerpc text patching infrastructure allocates a virtual memory area
using get_vm_area() and flags it as VM_ALLOC. But that flag is meant
to be used for vmalloc() and vmalloc() allocated memory is not
supposed to be used before a call to __vmalloc_node_range() which is
never called for that area.
That went undetected until commit e4137f08816b ("mm, kasan, kmsan:
instrument copy_from/to_kernel_nofault")
The area allocated by text_area_cpu_up() is not vmalloc memory, it is
mapped directly on demand when needed by map_kernel_page(). There is
no VM flag corresponding to such usage, so just pass no flag. That way
the area will be unpoisonned and usable immediately.
Impact
The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.
CVE-2025-21866 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-21866? CVE-2025-21866 is a medium-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
- How severe is CVE-2025-21866? CVE-2025-21866 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-21866? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-21866 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-21866 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-21866 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-21866 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.